Weekly News from COBRT - October 31st, 2017
LEADERSHIP. REACH. RESULTS.
October 31, 2017

Coinciding with Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Colorado, he wrote an OpEd describing the White Houses plan for tax cuts and what it means for Colorado:

"Tax cuts are long overdue. It's been more than 30 years since President Ronald Reagan passed the last major tax reform, and since those days, America has fallen behind.

Our current tax system takes too much of working Americans' hard-earned money. It taxes our businesses at the highest rate in the developed world and drives our companies overseas. And it too often benefits the wealthy and the well-connected, who can hire lawyers and lobbyists to exploit the tax code to their advantage.

Colorado has felt the squeeze. In recent years, Denver alone has lost 5 percent of its middle class. But our tax-cut plan is based on four common-sense principles that will bring about a middle-class miracle."

Vice President Pence's visit to Denver last Thursday coincided with his op-ed, published in the Denver Post. The Vice President outlined the administration's goal to give working families a real tax cut, to make the tax code simple and fair for all, and to make American businesses competitive on the global stage.

U.S. House of Representatives passed the Senate budget last week, paving the way for tax reform. While the passage of the budget was a significant step forward in advancing President Trump's top legislative priority, there are some clear warning signs for businesses anxious to see meaningful tax reform.

From orbiting around the world to a spot on the White House's wall, one American flag has had quite a journey.

Vice President Mike Pence was presented with a flag originally flown during the first test flight for Orion after he finished a tour of Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Jefferson County on Thursday.

"America is going to lead in space once again," Pence said to a corralled pool of national and local media after receiving the gift from Lockheed President and CEO Marillyn Hewson.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Thursday that he has created a new career coaching program meant to help job-seekers navigate the state's rapidly changing employment market.

The program, Governor's Coaching Corps, is launched in partnership with Skillful and will bring together career coaching professionals who in turn will help job seekers prepare for the digital economy.

The program is funded by Microsoft Philanthropies' $25.8 million donation to Skillful, which launched in 2016. Skillful is an initiative of the Markle Foundation, in partnership with Microsoft, LinkedIn, the state of Colorado, and many others, that brings together key players across the labor market, including employers, state and local government officials, educators and workforce centers, to help workers adapt to the changing workplace.

Colorado Department of Transportation executive director Shailen Bhatt will step down in December, ending a tenure that was defined by a fierce advocacy for more road money and transportation innovation.

He is the second top leader on Gov. John Hickenlooper's team to resign as the governor's second term nears its end. Ellen Golombek last month said she would leave her post as executive director of the Department of Labor and Employment to take a post with a national workforce advocacy agency.

Bhatt, appointed by Hickenlooper in February 2015, will take the president and CEO role at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. The move seems fitting as one of the organization's goals is to support new technology in transportation systems.

What ancient stones on a tiny Pacific island can teach us about Bitcoin, blockchains, and the future of money. 

Future of Money, the first in a 5-part series created in collaboration with Quartz, looks at what ancient stones on a tiny Pacific island can teach us about Bitcoin, blockchains and the future of money. What Happens Next is a video exploration of the future from Quartz and Retro Report.

What Happens Next is a series of deeply reported short documentaries that examine radical transformations coming to central aspects of life in the near future, through the experience of people already living them.


The IAV Initiative is pretty simple.  It works with campaigns and advertisers to reduce the number of unnecessary political advertisements sent during elections. And by unnecessary, we mean sent to someone who is either: a) not eligible to vote or b) has already voted.

After a voter has voted, they are encouraged to opt-in and submit their information at IAlreadyVoted.org which then works to notify candidates, campaigns and media advertisers to stop targeting these voters. The site does not ask who a voter voted for, nor is it interested in capturing any more information than it needs to: name, address, zip code, email and birthday is all that is required in the submission process.

It is according to Forbes magazine, which ranked Denver as the 10th-coolest city in the U.S.

How is "cool" defined? Forbes said it ranked 100 cities using criteria including: access to recreation; locally owned rather than chain restaurants; percentage of bicycle, hybrid and electric car, and mass transit users; coffee roasters and craft beers; bars and clubs; net migration; young people population; diversity; and small-business growth.

Throughout last week Colorado Business Roundtable has announced some of our finalists for the Collaboration in Industry Awards. Please join me in saying Congratulations to the finalists! 

Aerospace
  • Lockheed Martin
  • Space Foundation
  • USAF Space and Missile Systems Center
Education & Workforce
  • Colorado State University-Global Campus
  • Colorado Succeeds
  • Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain Inc
  • The Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technology (ADAPT)
Energy
  • Vital for Colorado
  • Denver Petroleum Club & CU-Denver Global Energy Management Program
  • Clean Energy Collective
Engineering & Construction
  • Merrick & Company
  • SEAKR Engineering 
  • Crossroads Commerce Park - Industrial Park
Farming & Agriculture
  • Colorado Farm Bureaub
  • Farmers Alliance for Integrated Resources (FAIR)
  • Colorado FFA Foundation
Financial Services
  • JPMorgan Chase
  • ACG-Denver
  • FirstBank
Government & Economic Development
  • City of Denver
  • EDCC & OEDIT
  • Denver Regional Councils of Governments
Health & Wellness
  • Colorado Public Health/Parks & Recreation Collaborative
  • DaVita
  • Catalyst HTI
Hospitality & Lodging
  • Sage Hospitality
  • Molson Coors
  • Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association
Manufacturing
  • Ball Corporation
  • Fauston Tool
  • OIA Sustainability Working Group
  • Southeast Colorado Manufacturing Partnership
Technology
  • IBM
  • Colorado Technology Foundation
  • Center for Technology, Research and Commercialization (C-TRAC)
Tourism & Outdoor Recreation
  • The Historic Hot Springs Loop
  • Colorado Tourism Office
  • Cabela's

 

Listen at KDMT 1690 AM Denver's Money Talk from 
4-5 p.m. Monday through Friday or  live stream online. Podcasts are available at  www.cobrt.com/radio and on your favorite podcast app the day after live airing.

Stream or Download These Recent Episodes

See all at our events page and use this contact form to add yours!

10/30-31/2017
25th Fall Conference & Exhibition - Colorado Nonprofit Association

11/7/2017 - 11/8/2017
Clean Energy Means Business Corporate Summit - Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association

11/9/2017
2017 Annual Meeting & Luncheon - Colorado Oil & Gas Association

11/16/2017
4th Annual Legislative Reception - Colorado Business Roundtable

11/17/2017
2017 Annual Luncheon - Denver South Economic Development Partnership

12/6/2017
 2017 CSBR Roundup - Colorado Space Business Roundtable

12/7/2017

12/11/2017
Colorado Business Economic Outlook 2018 Forum - University of Colorado Boulder


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